Automatic lock



July 19, 193 w. P. LOWTHER AUTOMATI C LOCK Filed March 9, 1951 i -tlllllallm IIQIIllllllltlhllllwmll INVENTOR Wm BL owthe Q .QJASEZ.

ATTORNEY Patented July 19, 1932 UNITED STATES WILLIAM P. LOWTHIER, OF MERCED, CALIFORNIA AUTOMATIC LOCK Application filed. March 9,

This invention relates to looks, and especially to one arranged as a unit with a cap or cover member.

I have particularly in mind to arrange a lock in connection with the cap or plug of a tank outlet pipe, such as projects upwardly from an under-ground tank in which gasoline and the like is stored at service stations. At present such caps are prevented from removal, if at all, by an inferior type of lock which is easily picked or cut oil by an unscrupulous person. As a result various service station owners entail a considerable loss by having the gasoline sucked from the storage tanks into truck tanks after closing hours. This is an operation which has been made a business by thieving truck operators and which is hard to detect by the ordinary onlooker, since such trucks to all appearances are merely delivering gasoline.

The principal object of my invention is to eliminate these thieving operations by the provision of a lock for tank outlet pipes made as a unit with the cap and so arranged that it is easy to apply and removed, while requiring the use of a key for removal, but not for application.

The lock is of such a nature that the pipe will be gripped with increasing pressure if attempts are made to pull the cap upwardly. It is also arranged so that the cap may have an air-tight seal with the pipe, and there are no relatively weak parts exposed, so that mutilating or cutting away of any such parts by any one attempting to remove the look without the key is prevented.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawing similar characters of ref- 1931. Serial No. 521,154.

erence indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved lock and cap unit partly in section and showing the lock mechanism in its normal position.

rel which is adapted to have an easy running fit in an inlet pipe 2 and is provided with an enlarged head 3 on its upper end. The head over-hangs the top of the pipe and is provided with a countersunk gasket. ring 4 arranged to engage the top edge of the pipe to form an air-tight seal therewith.

The body is provided with a central bore 5 which extends from the bottom nearly to the top of the head; diametrically opposed slots 6 being cut through from the bore to the sides of the body and extending from the bottom of the same to a point below the gasket 4.

Disposed in the body adjacent its lower end and in crossing relation to each other are arms 7, projecting into the slots and across the bore. These arms are'separately pivotedtoward their outer ends on transverse horizontal pins 8; tension springs 9 between the arms tending to pull the same to a common horizontal position. Onthe outer ends the arms are fitted with transversely extending sharp edged locking tongues 10, which are of relatively hard metal and are curved along their outer edges to follow the contour of the pipe 2. j

Extending lengthwise through the bore is a link 11, which projects between the arms. A pin 12 flexibly connects the arms and link, working in longitudinal slots 13 in the arms and a similar slot 14 in the linkmThe up per end of the link is connected to a crank 15, whose rotation is controlled by a key insertable in the lock barrel 16 of a lock of the standard cylinder and pin type, and which is countersunk in one side of the head 3.

The crank is normally at its upper dead center position as shown in Fig. 1, which is the locked position of the parts, and the link is of course then in its upper-most position. When the link is thus disposed the pin 12 is adjacent the top of the slot 14 and is adjacent theouter ends of the slots 13, since the springs tend to straighten the arms out. This tendency is aided by a compression spring 17 disposed in the slot 1% below and engaging the pin 12. When the arms are in their normal position, the tongues 10 project outwardl of the slots 6 and the periphery of the b0 y.

In operation it is only necessary to insert the body into the pipe and press the same down until the gasket 4 snugly engages the pipe. The tongues drag against and grip the pipe and are of course retracted some- What relative to the body, this action causing the arms to, be tilted down toward their opposite ends somewhat against the resistance of the springs 9 and 17 as shown in Fig. 2. Any-attempt to raise the body tends to again straighten out the arms and advance the tongues relative to the body, which of course can only cause the tongues to grip the pipe more firmly. As a positive preventive against the. tongues slipping upwardly to any extent, I cut a circular groove 18 in the bore of the pipe a short distance above the normal locking position of the tongues, into. which the latter would project if the body was raised a corresponding distance.

To pull the body out of the pipe when the tongues are in the groove, it would be necessary for the arms to tilt upwardly past a horizontaldead center position a certain di tance,something which they cannot do on account of the limitation to such movements imposed by the slots 13 and 14, and to the fact that the link is incapable of further upward movement,

Upon applying the key to the lock, however, and turning the same, the crank 15 is turned and the link lowered. Through the medium of the pins 12 the arms are depressed, drawing the tongues inwardly of the periphery of the body as shown in Fig. The device may then be raised without interference. Before again placing the device in the pipe the key is turned to resort the parts into their locking position and is removed.

' From the above description it will be seenthat it isimmaterial how the body is inserted in the pipe, or in other words, the body and cap unit do not have to be disposed in any particular setting circumferentially of the pipe, since, the locking tongues take hold of the pipe no matter where they may happen to come to rest.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a de vice as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may he resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cap and lock structure for tubular outlets comprising a body to depend into and form a self-supporting cover over the outlet, opposed tongues to engage the inner wall of the outlet, means mounting the tongues on the body in a manner tending'to cause them to move radially and outwardly of the body and to wedgingly engage the outlet when a pull away from the outlet is imparted to the body, and means to move the tongues inwardly at will.

2. A cup and lock structure for tubular outlets comprising a body to depend into and form a self-supporting cover over the outlet, an arm extending radially of the body and pivoted intermediate its ends thereon, the outer end of the arm projecting to adj acent the periphery of the body and having a normal downward slant toward its opposite end, a tongue mounted on the outer end of the arm to engage the inner wall of the out let, means tending to pull the outer end of the arm down and thus move the tongue outwardly of the body, and lock controlled means to move the arm in the opposite di-.

rection to retract the tongue to a position inwardly of the periphery of the body.

3. A cap and lock structure for tubular outlets comprising a body to depend into and form a. self-supporting cover over the outlet, an arm extending radially of the body and pivoted intermediate its ends thereon, the outer end of the arm projecting to adjacent the periphery of the body and having a normal downward slant toward its opposite end, a tongue mounted on the outer end of the arm to engage the inner wall of the outlet, means tending to pull the outer end of the arm down and thus move the tongue outwardly of the body, and lock controlled means to limit such movement of the arm and to impart a movement'to the same in the opposite direction at will.

1. A cap and lock structure for tubular outlets comprising a body to depend into and form a self-supporting cover over the outlet, an arm extending radially of the body and pivoted intermediate its ends thereon, the outer end of the arm projecting to adjacent the periphery of the body and having a nor-" mal downward slant toward its opposite end, a tongue mounted on the outer end of the arm to engage the inner wall of the out let, means tending to pull the outer end of the arm down and thus move the tongue outwardly of the body, a link extending lengthwise in the body and having a longitudinal slot toward its lower end, the arm also having a longitudinal slot, a pin through the slots, and key controlled means to lower the link from a predetermined normal position; the pin when the link is in such position being adjacent the upper end of the link slot and adjacent the outer end of the arm slot.

5. A cap and lock structure for tubular outlets comprising a body to depend into and form a self-supporting cover over the outlet, an arm extending radially of the body and pivoted intermediate its ends thereon, the outer end of the arm projecting to adjacent the periphery of the body and having a normal downward slant toward its opposite end, a tongue mounted on the outer end of the arm to engage the inner wall of the outlet, means tending to pull the outer end of the arm down and thus move the tongue outwardly of the body, a link extending lengthwise in the body, means connecting the link to the arm in a manner to limit the downward movement of the outer end of the arm without interfering with its upward movement, and key controlled means applied to the link to normally hold it in a certain position and to move the same down at will to lower the adjacent end of the arm and retract the tongue inwardly of the body.

6. A cap and lock structure for tubular outlets comprising a body to depend into and form a self-supporting cover over the outlet, an arm extending radially of the body and pivoted intermediate its ends thereon, the outer end of the arm projecting to adjacent the periphery of the body and having a normal downward slant toward its opposite end, a tongue mounted on the outer end of the arm to engage the inner wall of the outlet, means tending to pull the outer end of the arm down and thus move the tongue outwardly of the body, a link extending lengthwise in the body, means connecting the link to the arm in a manner to limit the downward movement of the outer end of the arm without interfering with its upward movement, and a key rotated crank mounted in the body and applied to the upper end of the arm; the crank being normally at its upper dead center position.

'2. A cap and lock structure for tubular outlets comprising a body to depend into and form a self-supporting cover over the outlet, said body having a transverse slot ex tending from side to side toward its lower end, arms mounted in the slot in crossing relation to each other with a downward slope toward their inner ends, pivots connecting the ture.

WILLIAM P. LOWTHER. 

